HalalMate Halal ingredient guides
Plain-language guides to E-numbers, gelatin, alcohol in flavourings, certification logos and reading labels abroad.
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Alcohol in food flavourings: when ethanol on a label matters
Vanilla extract, 'natural flavourings' and ethanol carriers turn up in ordinary food. Here is how scholars distinguish intoxicant alcohol from industrial ethanol, and what to look for on a label.
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E-numbers and halal: which additives are safe, haram or doubtful
A practical reference to the E-numbers that matter for halal eating, why E471 and E120 keep appearing in doubt lists, and how to read an additive code on any label.
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Halal certification logos: how to tell a real mark from a claim
Certification marks are the fastest way to settle a halal question, but not every green crescent on a packet means anything. Here is who the major certifiers are and how to check a mark.
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Is gelatin halal? What the label does and does not tell you
Gelatin can come from pork, beef, fish or plants, and most labels never say which. Here is how scholars treat each source, and how to work out what is in the product in front of you.
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Reading ingredient labels abroad when you do not speak the language
A practical method for checking halal status on foreign packaging: the words to recognise in ten languages, the codes that travel unchanged, and what to do when the label is genuinely unreadable.
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Mushbooh: what 'doubtful' means and how to act on it
Doubtful is a real category in Islamic law, not a shrug. Here is where it comes from, which ingredients fall into it, and how to decide what to do when a label cannot give you a clear answer.